Gebang Jangan Tak Gebang Beb

A year to an end. 2006 which was full of stuff & happenings. The world and even my world. Too many sick things happened rather than sweet things in the world. My world was a sweet one of course rather it be my family or my cool hobbies. To make it simple, the followings are the happenings & achievement & agonies :

1. Farid Umar was born on 13-March 2006 at HUKM 10.30 a.m. weighing 2.9kg. Now he puts 2 fingers in the mouth & trying to stand at the same time.
2. Yasmin graduated from Tadika Taman Kasih on 2-December. She became the narrator during the concert for one of the performance.
3. Ida successfully signed up for her Master.
4. Amir is still as he is but meaner…hehehe.
5. Got myself and a second hand scott usa roadbike.
6. Ranked 60th in PCC-Proton Presidential Ride 60km November 19th.
7. Survived the Kayuh Lasak Penang Mtb Jamboree which was the toughest than previous “Will u survive?”.
8. Attempted my first 120km on tarmac to Kuala Klawang.
9. Replaced my Sidi Bullet with Sidi Dominator
10. Got myself a Cateye heart rate monitor from Megan.
11. Attempted the Mat Kilau trail from Raub to Tg Malim, 12 hours in labour transversing the Titiwangsa range with UPSI.
12. Rode my first Ipoh Fellowship ride which was awesome XC.

Kuala Klawang, a town located in the Jelebu disrict of Negeri Sembilan. That was where 7 of these crazy buggers attempted Route N32. The ride started off by an invitation from Bacin vied sms so called “kayuhan sesedap rasa” +/- 120km from Batu 14 – Batu 18 – Kuala Klawang and back. To my surprised, Saiful rolled in at 7.30 a.m. at the carpark though I was made to understand that he was down with a fever last night. Belasah aje la Saiful. We were thinking to let him decide whether to bail out or not upon reaching peak of Genting Peres.

7.45 a.m. we rode all the way to summit of Genting Peres reaching there after an hour smooth rolling. Saiful was already behind the group, struggling the 11km climb. All set, everybody rolled down the winding road excitedly crossing the state boundary marked by a Barisan Nasional mega signboard . Some corners clocked 57km/hr and it was awesome! We had the road to ourselves. The cold morning breeze swept across our faces chilling the sticky sweat. A group of 5 Ferrarris & Lambos flew by with a honk as we struggled one of the undulating terrains. No one even thought of the tormenting climb back later in the afternoon until we reached the bottom.

It was another 20km to reach the town of Kuala Klawang where we whacked through the open flat road. Obviously cross winds made the pedalling difficult at times. We had our roti canai, 100 plus & a glass of cold water for refuelling near a bus station and a quick leak. Then it was the pedalling back to the starting line that bugged us since we crossed the Barisan Nasional signboard at the peak of Genting Peres towards Kuala Klawang this morning.

The sun was at it’s primed. The scuffles to finish the flat 20km doubled. Saiful bailed out at 5th km…”tak boleh bai. Aku bagi kunci kereta, kau tolong ambik aku kat sini ok? Aku tunggu 3 jam pun takper.” That was his ultimate gesture. He was suffering with his fever. We left him beside the road in the scorching sun and continued our misery. Alwin & me broke away following our pace, leaving Bacin & another guy…forgot his name. We stopped at the foot of the mother hill and waited for Bacin.

The climb back to Genting Peres seemed motionless. We were pushing the pedals so hard. Every now and then, wind was like pushing us down the hill again. It was a simulation of a windtunnel where both left & right were 3 terrace slopes & the only wind path was the road that we were climbing. The sun played it’s major role…burning and burning…aaargh! La ni baru aku tau suffering mamat roadies kena. Compared to mtb, shades most of the trails.

Tengah dok struggle, a cyclist passed by with his shimmering face…don’t know whether he was smiling to me or due to the glare but definitely he was not in grief. The pain ended when I finally finished the last corner & saw the BN signboard. Pergh! I was expecting to hear voices of Alwin & Bacin at the top, mana lah tau recovery time but only still air awaited me. I straight away rolled down Genting Peres & met up with Alwin & Bacin at the bottom junction. The cyclist was there as well & we chat awhile before he excused himself. He was training for the Langkawi Ironman next year, no wonder. Saiful called, a friend gave him a lift, so we don’t have to drive all the way back to Kuala Klawang to fetch him…legaaa.

I was squeezing my last juice for the next 17km back to the car. I was plainly ignorance to the passing traffic and the searing sun. The first shade I saw at the carpark was the coolest awesome sight. It was a crazy attempt. My first 120km road ride was already one of the toughest route in le tour de Langkawi. Boleh dapat jersey polka dot oooo…!

Facts :

• Date : 24-December 2006 
• Route : N32 (Batu 14 – Batu 18 – Genting Peres – Kuala Klawang – return)
• Ride distance : 122km
• Ride time : +/- 5 hours
• Crazy buggers : Alwin, Bacin, Azua, Azim, Saiful, one chinese guy & me
• Weather : Hot & windy
• Difficulty : Giler

PECD organised an internal bowling tourney today. 10 teams from different projects & division sent their best bowlers to take home the CEO cup. Venue was at Endah Parade, Sri Petaling.

Started at 6.00pm and the last throw was at 8.00pm. I ranked myself at 6th place from 30 bowlers after collecting 171, 167 and 184. Truely it was my average marks eventhough my last bowled was 2 years ago. KLFM ranked 8th and 9th placing. Everybody received a souvenir. I brought home a teapot.

Alwin & me bravely joined the weekly Tuesday night ride with PCC. Started off at 8.30 p.m. due to the late evening precipitation from KSH Tmn Tun. There were 11 cyclists altogether which none of them we ever met…belasah je.

From Tmn Tun we headed towards Penchala Link vied the rear Tmn Tun road. 3 cyclists bailed out after 50 meters, maybe due to the unpromising weather that may lies later during the ride. We entered Penchala Link towards Segambut Dalam which took us through the tunnel. Then passed by Sri Hartamas and exited at Pusat Sains Negara where our first climb greeted us.

The group took us around Bukit Damansara with several short burst climbs. We regrouped in front of a Secret Recipe which we found out that it’s the ’secret’ Secret Recipe. Only the riders there would know how to define it. Some of those whom were behindhand, took a shortcut instead to catch up and joined back the group.

Another round around Bukit Damansara and we hit the Kerinchi Link at Pusat Sains Negara again. Exited at the golf club and headed towards Kiara and down back to Tmn Tun.

Distance was 23km for an hour 15 minutes ride. Weather was cold & wet throughout the ride. A good workout for after a long day from the airconditioned office. Should the weather was on our side, the ride would be much more enjoyable.

Took our late dinner at the mamak’s besides KSH and left home in the drizzling rain. Had my quick cold shower to rinse off the tarmac’s dust & dirt, dozed away through the night.

Finally sudah jumpa sama HRM yang amat berpatutan dan sesuai digunakan. After some window shopping at Pertama last week, aku rasa this is the most suitable. A few models at Pertama from Timex and Nike. Mostly rm200 above which I find having almost the same functions, which I don’t know of anything about…hahaha!

 These are the HRMs viewed at Pertama Complex. The last one cheaper, about rm100+ but with very basic functions. Well, mr. megan juga yang ada stok of a nice descend Cateye HRM which cost me slightly less than 200 bucks.

Attempted Genting Sempah last Saturday but this time with roadbike. 4 of us : Azri, Alwin, Azahari & me. Parked our cars at Hospital Orang Asli Gombak & rode off at 8.00 a.m.

Tempo was casual but at regular speed with some intervals. Itupun sebab Azri dok jadi unofficial coach. Suruh tarik 25km/j which lasted only for 30 secs…crazy! Dia lain lah, dah warm up sebab ride dari rumah.

Reached the peak about 55 minutes later then rolled back reaching maximum speed 50km/j at some stretches which included when beruk chased us…hahaha!

• Total ride time = 1 hour 33 minutes
• Distance = 32km
• Hari ni ramai mtb yg attempt the route.

Huhu…another Jamboree well done! My third actually and I attempted this one with a little of groundwork. Compared to previous years, tahun ni ada killer sikit & the distance pun ada tambah to 30km. Thanks to KOTRT, the additional parts were stretched at the grannies & rewarded with the 37 switchbacks.

Too bad most of our fellow friends from KL didn’t come. There were only a handful of us i.e. Alwin, Azrai, Azahari, Tun, Sazali, Bob, abg Zul, Hamir, his son, his brother & me. Aku juga notice at the starting line that morning, jumlah penunggang basikal bukit this year roughly about 300-400 aje. I wonder why the turn-up was not so good & happening?

Started-off from Youth Park & rode towards Jalan Air Itam macam last year but instead of climbing to the dam, the route took us for a longer & steeper granny up Kek Lok Si Temple & 1200 steps. Nama 1200 Steps pun dah macam skill kung-fu tu. Memang the 1200 Steps applied for the faint hearted…but most of us were still pushing the grannies all the way up. Alwin & me rode off following our paces & later realised that our buddies were no longer behind. Sorry bro.

First check point awaited us somewhere after we climbed all the concrete & dirt. It was a rooted downhill after the check point which took us to the dam, though I can’t seem to recall seeing the dam.

Then it’s Bunga Kantan. This was one of last year’s killer climb. I walked the bike all the way during last year’s attempt but not this time. The last rideable half was between me & granny up to the tarmac. It was awesome although at first I thought it was impossible. Sampai Ironcross, the climb on tarmac up to Tiger Hill rewarded us with recovery rolling to the first food & fluid station. Along (Malik’s eldest son) & Faizal CCI greeted us with a handful of bananas. Sekali telan macam cokodok & top up the bladder.

The trailhead for the next singletrack started off immediately after the 2 baskets of bananas. It was a steep & scoured one but not as slippery as last year where some riders threw their bikes down…hahaha. It was another winding rolling and another climb before we crossed under the Penang Hill tram tracks. A quick snapshots at a few spots and continued on to Station 84.

This time Alwin & me stopped for more than 5 minutes to enjoy the much awaited chicken puff. It was lunch time by the way, no wonder masa layan downhill perut dah bunyi, wa ingat bunyi brek. I was made to understand later during the ride that most of the riders bailed out from here through the Jeep Trail down to Botanical Garden since time was not on their side. Definitely, it was still a long way to go to Checkpoint 5.

To reach the 37 switchbacks, we had to go through another “mari angkat basikal” route which at this point of time, the laziness started to dwell in. This stretch was too disconcerting. Another stretch of the trail with full of staircase awaited us before the start of the switchbacks. Those freeriders were so wound up for the thrill of if. Noticeable from their approach 2 miles back.

37 switchbacks was definitely a braking & entering procedure. Either you’re jamming the brake, used up your rubber & dead beating your arm muscles OR you just enjoy the smooth rolling with a bit of sweetness pressure on the brake levers. There were a few gelojoh thrill seekers who were jamming their brakes when approaching the switchbacks. It was an annoyying view & resonance but lucky the trail was concreted. If 400 riders do this in Kiara, habis la. A front puncture caught me at one of the turnings where a 5 minutes repairing looked like ages when we saw too many riders passed by. Cepat sikit! Dah ramai sangat potong nih! Argh!

We reached the bottom and exited at the turf club where it was a road ride again to youth park. Time to catch up with the losses…crank it up bro! The last climb at Youth Park was another devastating attempt. It was steep & long on your knobbies & it was HOT on your back! Alwin got himself supercharged again but not me. The only thing that drove me to push all the way up was the DJ’s voice at the finish line. The final descent was a slow one, approaching the Youth Park road and all the way to the medal give away at somewhere around 2.25pm clocking 6 and half hours ride.

Azrai & Azhari arrived a few minutes later. Tun who was doing the Jeep Trail checked in followed by Sazali. Abang Zul rode till Checkpoint 4. Hamir & family only up to Checkpoint 2 due to severe cramps.

Another job well done though upon finishing I felt like there’s no coming back. Well, actually that’s the normal words described everytime I finished a biggy. The main thing was…I survived.

Yeah…last Sunday attempted Ulu Langat route again on roadbike squeezed in with PCC tar & grime weekly ride. About 20 ppl for almost 57km. Kumpul at Bt 14, 8.00 ciao towards Bt 18 then the jalan kampung up to Genting Peres and back. Tak attempt pun Bukit Langat sebab dah boleh terasa kelengitannya plus most of us preferred riding back to Bt18.

The first 7km from Bt14 to Bt18 was a warm up thing where semua rode slow pace 25km/hr. Bila dah masuk jalan kampung, aku kayuh sorang2…cis. Struggling to catch p with the front group but the view of them slipped away everytime I reached a corner. Averaging at 30km/hr on flat all by myself was bored stiff.

Finally reached the junction to Genting Peres and saw a few guys lepak but I continued on taking the climbing challenge for another 10km to the peak. Road was clear, mist started to drift away as I pushed the pedals gradually uphill. The last few corners then only I passed by a few other anguished cyclists.

Alwin, Bachin & Laif were already joking their way through the rest time at the peak when I approached them. A quick 2 minutes leg rest & I was rolling down again getting up to 40km/hr at certain corners…this is the reward.

On the way back through jalan kampung, saw Azahari at a workshop… putus rantai. Adush! Asking the locals for a ride to Bt 18 will cost him 30 bucks. Slack. So aku rode back to Bt14, get my car and fetch him at Bt18…lucky he managed to get a lift from somebody.

Ended the hot climate ride at 11.30. Too bad didn’t manage to click a photo. The best thing is, no worries of getting to wash the bike once sampai rumah nanti…ekekekek.